#uisgz

[utahloyinternationalschool-blog]

Utahloy International School Zengcheng (UISZ) Celebrating Outstanding Success in IB Diploma Examinations

[internationalschools-blog]

From the teachers who work there...

Utahloy International School (UIS)

"On behalf of the large number of staff leaving this year (and the same large number who left last year) colleagues need to be warned about this school and its shared campus school (Utahloy.I.S ZengCheng). Note that this school and ZengCheng are advertised as one school-two campuses. Teachers,students and parents are terrific.The location of the Guangzhou School is beautiful-the same goes for ZengCheng. Local staff are great and Guangzhou is a good, if not polluted location. Colleagues, however, should read recent reviews of Utahloy (Guangzhou and ZengCheng) on this ISR web site as they reveal dishonesty in Management and incompetence in educational leadership. The School is owned by Utahloy Education Foundation ((HK).The two owners (husband and wife ) have huge financial problems.The husband has been refused exit from mainland to HK until repayment of a multimillion dollar loan.The mother company in HK is in financial straits .Where does the money come from to help the company? The schools are financially successful-that makes the question rhetorical. Teachers are being made to pay the way by: -late payment of salaries. - changes to contract conditions. The worst action being that those finishing their contracts have been given one month's notice and thus the company does not have to pay the 2 month vacation leave from June to August. -Some staff teaching IB Diploma have been told that when the examinations finish so does their contract (again no vacation pay for teachers).This has to be the most dishonest action of any Educational Foundation. - non payment of end of contract gratuities. - Redirecting money for resources/buildings to other company interests -this in itself is an illegal practice in China and most countries. However if its saves the owners then they are happy.

The Head has failed to support teachers throughout this horrific time and is guilty by association and silence. Colleagues must think carefully if offered a contract by this school and its Foundation.Look at the other reviews on these schools-they tell the truth. Look also at expat web sites on Guangzhou (Living in Guangzhou) and see what the parent think about the owner and the Head. Teachers deserve better than this but in the future they will be treated even worse-we expect many current conditions to be withdrawn since the Head-the General Manager and the owners only see us as an obstruction to their profit maximisation.They don,t like teachers.Stay away colleagues. Attempts are being made to have the Foundation investigated ."

"The way this school treats people is nothing short of appalling, and would be illegal in countries with more developed labour laws and social systems. This school used to rival the American International School as a top international school in southern China. Now, it has become a joke, so much so that staff from the Zeng Cheng campus (read the previous reviews) were given last-minute access to the Search Hong Kong fair in January; heads of many of the Hong Kong and mainland schools were there and are fully aware of Utahloy’s reputation. Over the last two years, over 20 staff (more than 33%) left; this is not natural turnover. An abnormal number of staff that left last year broke contract. Quite a few of the “old timers” were fed up enough to leave in significant numbers over the past two years. One can only guess that this pattern will continue into this year, with about the same numbers leaving. It’s almost comical, if it wasn’t so sad.

Many of the reviews posted above highlight a significant pattern – the total ineffectiveness of the administration. Teachers work hard and try to make the school work properly, despite Dorothy Wong’s greed, and the general lack of professionalism found within the support staff (excluding TA’s who have been purged this past summer after the western staff left for holiday) and financial office. One feels one is continually jumping hurdles at this school just to be an effective teacher.

Parents are not oblivious to the goings-on, and are often supportive of the staff. Many parents who have had their kids in the school for quite a few years have transferred them to the American School.

School facilities are literally falling apart. Don’t be deceived by the new painting, which covers the mold. A full time painter covers all of the bad spots. Scratch a little beneath the surface and you will find safety hazards aplenty in the yard, a soccer field that is not treated properly so that it becomes very dusty and hard as cement in the dry season (and a muddy pool in the wet season). This was to be a “Mac School,” with ambitions of all the upper school students walking around with their own MacBooks – indeed, tuition was even increased to bring this idea to fruition, but, when greed/costs got in the way of the bottom line, the program was scrapped (but tuition remained the same).

There are some shining examples of great teaching at this school. The primary school has traditionally been strong, having just been authorized by the PYP. There are some absolutely excellent high school and middle school teachers who are adored by the students and who will voluntarily put in extra time and effort to make students’ experiences rich and valuable ones. These staff are highly professional and are people with whom you’d definitely want to work - they work despite the tribulations they have to endure. How long they will put up with the ineptitude above them in the administration is the big question though.

My advice is to give this school a miss and try for another one if mainland China is your goal. There are some gems of schools in this country and China is a great place to live."

"You need to come to this school if: You need IB training and haven’t got it…great professional development for that. You have IB training but the learner profile is “on paper only”. Administration and many teachers do not model the behaviours. You don’t mind that you don’t go on professional development because you are not one of the favorites. You like a fragmented staff. You can belong to the Bible Thumpers, the Outsiders, Drinkers or one of the Language factions. The Bible Thumpers hate the Drinkers and vice versa and the language Factions stick to their own cultures. The Outsiders smooze between the fragments. You don’t have an education degree because any degree will do. You don’t have an education degree and will probably get a job of responsibility. You are intending to begin your own business. Great opportunities for those who want to run bars, begin a tutoring company or perhaps another business venture such as jewelry, wine export/import and so on. You don’t mind that locals don’t get paid enough but you do. You are a single white male because your housing will be better than single white females or families. Discrimination abounds! You don’t mind that landlords suck in China! If you expect that things will be fixed in a timely manner or that  your shower, toilet or other such things need to work then think again. You don’t mind worrying whether or not you are going to come home and find you are locked out because the school hasn’t paid your rent You won’t mind moving when the school fails to pay your rent. You don’t mind a health care provider that provides you with nothing unless of course you are hit by a bus. Then insurance might kick in but you have to phone them first! You don’t mind a change in health care. There have been at least 4 different providers in the last seven years. This is a breech of contract. You don’t mind if you may be in a condemned building they will expect you to continue working in it. You don’t mind canteen workers using the facilities and then walking out without washing their hands. Could this be the problem for many of our stomach complaints? You don’t mind meetings every other day…a meeting that requires a meeting. You don’t mind being set up for failure by administration. It will be subtle. You don’t mind waking up very early in the morning to catch a bus to go to work at 7 and arriving home at night around 6. You love making orders that are handed in to the administration office only to find out it will never come because they “lost” the paperwork. You will have someone at the helm but it won’t be that person running the show. The owner makes the decisions along with the Head of IT and the Head of Finance and not the Head of School. You won’t mind not getting supplies, sports equipment, books and resources for classrooms because there is no money. Is there a budget? You won’t mind getting supplies that are cheap and don’t work even when you get them. Oh yeah it’s made in China. You won’t mind that things are not transparent because after all it’s China. You won’t mind that there are no systems or policies in place, after all you are in China. You don’t mind that you will probably lose accreditation with CIS because an “owner” has their office on school premises. It will be like a domino effect. One will go and another one will follow. You don’t mind spending hours in the bank to send money home or maybe you won’t be able to send money at all. Oh, you are in China. You won’t mind that you can’t find any units on the server because there is so much there and disorganized as well. You don’t mind that the Internet will make you tear your hair out especially at work as students can download what they want when they want, how they want. You won’t mind IT from the 90’s. Resources such as I-pads and computers for classrooms are blatantly lacking. And even if you have one in your classroom, it will be old and outdated. Software updates are not done unless you “beg” IT to do it. You want things to work such as hardware and software but the IT department sits in their office watching their security screens or playing computer games. You need to be on a lake where outside it is so beautiful but inside is another matter. You don’t care about health and safety. Toilets are dirty, kids are smoking in the bathrooms but nothing is done about it. Primary buildings are something to be desired."